'Junior Malik' is coming soon, Inshallah: Shoaib Malik

After Shoaib Malik openly declared that he is Sania Mirza's No. 1 fan, as soon as she was ranked World No. 1 in doubles, all eyes were on Sania's microblogging page. Will she respond, will she not - that was the question.

Sania, who was all set to return home to Hyderabad after clinching the numero uno spot, eventually did reply to Shoaib Malilk's post, as she did to all others who congratulated her on social media.

But her response to Shoaib was indeed a special one; she returned the compliment, by saying, "@realshoaibmalik thank youuu..from one fan to the other... see u soon..."

Now that one post from the wifey called for a celebration, online at least. After retweeting Sania's post, Shoaib invited people to ask him questions using the hashtag #AskMalik and soon, he was bombarded with questions on 'Sania bhabhi'.

Shoaib answered them all of them without any hesitation. From saying he would have been 'Sania's manager' if not a cricketer, to declaring that 'junior Malik' is 'coming soon' to suggesting names if they have a daughter and confessing that he was in love before he met Sania, Shoaib scored high in this Q&A. Here are a few quirky ones.

What would you like to say on @MirzaSania recent success? Proud hubby?

Proud of her and happy for her achievements because i know first hand how hard she trains...

Sania is back to number one again... how do you feel?

Very happy, the first time

How did you guys celebrate Sania's recent success?

By phone calls, as I was not with her, and a lot of dancing.

When is junior Malik coming?

Inshallah soon

If you have a son, will you make him a cricketer or a tennis player?

Tough one really! Probably both, what do you think?

If you had a daughter, what will you name her?

Didn't think of that yet! Probably Mirialla or Reem.

How's Sania bhabhi and your mother?

They are great! With my mom right now, but missing Sania.

Would you like Sania Mirza to represent Pakistan and play tennis some day?

Not at all, that would be unfair. I should not ask her change who she is, what she is made of, where she belongs to...

Which is your favourite city in India?

Hyderabad

Is Sania bhabhi willing to play singles as well?

Yes, she does

What's the lamest question you have ever had to answer?

Lol there are so many - do I love Sania; do I shower everyday; do I want to play for Pak...

One thing you like about India?

The love I get. Hyderabad. I really enjoy my time there. I was there for a month during #CWC15

After marriage, your performance has gone down while Sania is on top of the world...
I don't agree on either, sorry.

What have you learnt from Sania?

Many things like to achieve the best, you have to work hard the most, and believe that it's possible.

If you had not become a cricketer, what would have you done?

Sania's manager

Your wife is more famous than you, does it affect your relationship?

Of course not. I pray for her to be the best and I'm proud of her.

When will Sania be seen with you in Pakistan?

It looks like after Eid, due to her Opens and my Leagues.

How difficult is it to manage married life when you both live in different parts of the world?

Very very very difficult. It's like a phone life with your best friend from different hotels and cities.

If Sania wants to act in films in future, will you allow her?

After I approve the her, yes, not before. (sic)

What comes next to your heart after cricket and of course Sania Mirza?

No sequence like that, but you missed my mom.

Have you ever player tennis or cricket with Sania Bhabhi?

Yes, we coach each other.

When are you coming to Hyderabad?

Very soon, but it's a personal trip, so not announcing here, but you will see pics.

Do you and Sania have couple fights sometimes?

Yes, but she starts all of them and I end all of them. not really, but yes, we do sometimes.

Who would you support if there was a match between Pakistani tennis star and your wife?

My wife, of course, as the player, and Pakistan as the nation.

Who holds the TV remote? Of course, bhabhi, hai na?

Always Sania, always.

Ever loved a girl as a teenager?

Yes, and it wasn't Sania.

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Ex-NFL star Aaron Hernandez found guilty of 2013 murder

FALL RIVER: Former National Football League star Aaron Hernandez murdered an acquaintance in an industrial park near his Massachusetts home, a jury determined on Wednesday, at the end of the first of two murder trials the former player faces this year.

The jury found Hernandez, 25, guilty of first-degree murder in the June 2013 slaying of Odin Lloyd, who had been dating Hernandez's fiancee's sister at the time. During the trial, the men were described as having been in the early stages of friendship, but Hernandez soured on his victim after Lloyd hung out with people the former New England Patriots tight end disliked.

The Patriots cut Hernandez, a rising star with a $41 million contract, hours after his arrest on June 26, 2013, nine days after a teenage jogger found Lloyd's body.

The highly publicized case was another black eye for the NFL. The United States' most profitable sports league was already facing a lawsuit by former players who contend it ignored the concussion risks they faced on the gridiron and criticism for its handling of cases involving domestic violence by players.

During the four months of testimony, the jury heard from more than 130 witnesses who testified that Hernandez, a native of Bristol, Connecticut, was a regular user of marijuana and sometimes of the stimulant PCP, that he owned guns and at times acted paranoid and said he felt his friends did not appreciate the things he did for them.

The witnesses included Alexander Bradley, a former friend of Hernandez's who charged in a civil lawsuit that the former NFL player shot him in the face in February 2013, costing him an eye. Bradley, who never pursued criminal charges over the incident, testified that he saw Hernandez handle a gun similar to the one used to kill Lloyd, but was not allowed to tell the jury about the shooting.

Investigators never recovered the .45-caliber Glock pistol that was used to pump six bullets into Lloyd, who had been a semiprofessional football player.

Robert Kraft, the Patriots' billionaire owner, was also called to the stand. Kraft testified that Hernandez said he was innocent and claimed to have been at a nightclub at the time of the killing.

The first-degree murder conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole.

Prosecutors contended that two friends, Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz, were with Hernandez at the time of the killing. Those two men will be tried separately.

Defense lawyers closed their case by saying Hernandez had been present at the time of Lloyd's slaying, but had been a witness not a participant.

"He was a 23-year-old kid who witnessed ... a shocking killing committed by somebody he knew," said defense attorney James Sultan. "He really didn't know what to do. So he just put one foot in front of the other."

Prosecutors countered that Hernandez had plotted and controlled every detail of the slaying.

"He believed he could kill Odin Lloyd and nobody would ever believe that he was involved," said Assistant District Attorney William McCauley.

Hernandez was also found guilty of two firearms charges for illegally possessing the handgun used in the crime and illegally possessing .22-caliber ammunition found at his North Attleborough, Massachusetts, home.

Hernandez faces another trial beginning later this year in Boston, where he is charged with fatally shooting Cape Verdean nationals Daniel Abreu and Safirdo Furtado outside a nightclub after one of them spilled a drink. The jury that rendered the Lloyd verdict was not told about that case.

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Former cricketer, commentator Richie Benaud has private funeral

SYDNEY: A private funeral and commemoration service attended by ex-players Shane Warne and Ian Chappell was held Wednesday for former Australia cricket captain and commentator Richie Benaud.

Benaud died last Friday at the age of 84 of complications from skin cancer. His wife, Daphne, declined a government offer for a state funeral in favor of a smaller service at the Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park attended only by family and close friends.

Benaud's former teammate, Brian Booth, led the service.

In the memorial booklet, his family described Benaud as "a special person who means so much to each of us in many different ways."

Later at a commemoration service, Warne and Chappell were joined by former Australia captain Mark Taylor and current test skipper Michael Clarke.

Benaud, considered one of the most influential cricket identities of the past century, played 63 tests for Australia but was more well-known for his career in the commentating booth.

Taylor said following Benaud's death that the celebrated television personality covered all the bases.

"I think that's what set him apart from a lot of people who came before him and probably after him, "Taylor said, "That he loved playing, he loved competing and he loved commentating and being involved in the game."

In the hours after Benaud's death, Warne took to Instagram to post a photo of an introspective Benaud, along with the words: "I've known you & Daphne for close to 30 years & to everyone you were a legend on all levels & rightly so too. As a cricketer, commentator & as a person, you were the best there's ever been."

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Sayantan Das best Indian in Dubai Open chess

DUBAI: International Master Sayantan Das finished on a high defeating Daniele Vocaturo of Italy in the ninth and final round and earned the distinction of being the best placed Indian in the Dubai International Open chess tournament.

Despite his heroic performance that found him in the main prize list, Das, could not get a Grandmaster norm in his kitty as he fell short in the average rating by a mere 2.5 points. Any opponent rated 25 points more than the current rating would have sufficed for the Indian to make the coveted GM norm.

That however did not deter the Kolkata-based player to display his best chess as he outplayed Vocaturo in all departments of the game. The Italian was up against the Ruy Lopez and after a dubious plan never got in the game as Das cruised home after 76 moves to finish on six points in all.

Dragan Solak of Turkey was adjudged the champion on best tiebreak after a five-way tie at the top was resolved. David Howell of England, Vladimir Fedoseev of Russia, Ivan Ivanisevic of Serbia, Andrei Istratescu of France and Eltaj Safarli of Azerbaijan took the lion's share of $50000 prize purse after all scored seven points each and tied for the top spot alongside Solak.

For once, the Indian challenge never took off in the tournament and the main reason was a terribly out-of-form former winner of this event Abhijeet Gupta, who lost yet another game against Russain International Master Eduard Kanter to end on just 4.5 points out of a possible nine.

S Vijayalakshmi had the consolation of finishing as the top woman player in the tournament after she drew with Ezat Mohamed of Egypt. The other Indian girl, Eesha Karvade missed out on the top spot when she lost her last round game against Alexander Kovchan of Ukraine.

Among other Indians in the fray, Aniruddha Deshpande had something to cheer about as he made his International Master norm following a hard-earned victory against Pascal Haridas of Philippines in his final round game. Deshpande ended on 5.5 points apiece and was in a must win situation in the final round for his norm.

Grandmaster Sahaj Grover ended his tournament on a positive note by winning his last game against Iranian youngster Alireza Firouzja. Grover ended his stint on 5.5 points but still loses some important rating points.

Important and Indian results final round (Indians unless stated): Vladimir Fedoseev (Rus, 7) drew with David Howell (Eng, 7); Dragan Solak (Tur, 7) drew with Eltaj Safarli (Aze, 7); Ivan Ivanisevic (Srb, 7) beat Alexander Shabalov (Usa, 6.5); Andrei Istratescu (Fra, 7) beat Alexander Ipatov (Tur, 6); Nils Grandelius (Tur, 6.5) beat Murali Karthikeyan (5.5); Tigran Petrosian (Arm, 6) beat R R Laxman (5.5); K Rathnakaran (5) lost to Peter Prohaszka (Hun, 6); Sayantan Das (6) beat Daniele Vocaturo (Ita, 5); Eesha Karavade (5) lost to Alexander Kovchan (Ukr, 6); Ezat Mohamed (Egy, 5.5) drew with S Vijayalakshmi (5.5); Mehar Chinna Reddy (5.5) drew with Hovik Hayrapetyan (Arm, 5.5); Abhijeet Gupta (4.5) lost to Eduard Kanter (Rus, 5.5); Alireza Firouzja (Iri, 4.5) lost to Sahaj Grover (5.5); Nico Georgiadis (Sui, 5.5) beat Nr Visakh (4.5); Sagar Shah (4.5) lost to Gunay Mammadzada (Aze, 5.5); Pascua Haridas (Phi, 4.5) lost to Anuruddha Deshpande (5.5); Abhishek Kelkar (5) drew with Abdelnabbi Imed (Egy, 5); Abdulla Khayala (Aze, 4.5) lost to Sundararajan Kidambi (5.5); Nr Vignesh (5) drew with Rakesh Kulkarni (5); Siva Mahadevan (5) drew with Tissir Mohamed (Mar, 5); Yildiz Betul Cemre (Tur, 5) beat L N Ram Aravind (4); Rajarishi Karthi (5) beat Sameer Kathmale (4); Saeed Ishaq (Uae, 4) lost to Vinayak Kulkarni (5); Tabada Jobannie (Phi, 4.5) beat Amruta Mokal (3.5); Al Hamed Saif Idrees (Uae, 3) lost to Inacia Rodrigues (4); Amna Nouman (Uae, 4) beat Rajesh Vasanthakumar (3); Hamdan Marshool (Uae, 4) beat Aswin Sreekumar (3); Bashaer Khalil (Uae, 3) lost to Akshay V Halagannavar (4).

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'Junior malik' is coming soon, Inshallah: Shoaib Malik

After Shoaib Malik openly declared that he is Sania Mirza's No. 1 fan, as soon as she was ranked World No. 1 in doubles, all eyes were on Sania's microblogging page. Will she respond, will she not - that was the question.

Sania, who was all set to return home to Hyderabad after clinching the numero uno spot, eventually did reply to Shoaib Malilk's post, as she did to all others who congratulated her on social media.

But her response to Shoaib was indeed a special one; she returned the compliment, by saying, "@realshoaibmalik thank youuu..from one fan to the other... see u soon..."

Now that one post from the wifey called for a celebration, online at least. After retweeting Sania's post, Shoaib invited people to ask him questions using the hashtag #AskMalik and soon, he was bombarded with questions on 'Sania bhabhi'.

Shoaib answered them all of them without any hesitation. From saying he would have been 'Sania's manager' if not a cricketer, to declaring that 'junior Malik' is 'coming soon' to suggesting names if they have a daughter and confessing that he was in love before he met Sania, Shoaib scored high in this Q&A. Here are a few quirky ones.

What would you like to say on @MirzaSania recent success? Proud hubby?

Proud of her and happy for her achievements because i know first hand how hard she trains...

Sania is back to number one again... how do you feel?

Very happy, the first time

How did you guys celebrate Sania's recent success?

By phone calls, as I was not with her, and a lot of dancing.

When is junior Malik coming?

Inshallah soon

If you have a son, will you make him a cricketer or a tennis player?

Tough one really! Probably both, what do you think?

If you had a daughter, what will you name her?

Didn't think of that yet! Probably Mirialla or Reem.

How's Sania bhabhi and your mother?

They are great! With my mom right now, but missing Sania.

Would you like Sania Mirza to represent Pakistan and play tennis some day?

Not at all, that would be unfair. I should not ask her change who she is, what she is made of, where she belongs to...

Which is your favourite city in India?

Hyderabad

Is Sania bhabhi willing to play singles as well?

Yes, she does

What's the lamest question you have ever had to answer?

Lol there are so many - do I love Sania; do I shower everyday; do I want to play for Pak...

One thing you like about India?

The love I get. Hyderabad. I really enjoy my time there. I was there for a month during #CWC15

After marriage, your performance has gone down while Sania is on top of the world...
I don't agree on either, sorry.

What have you learnt from Sania?

Many things like to achieve the best, you have to work hard the most, and believe that it's possible.

If you had not become a cricketer, what would have you done?

Sania's manager

Your wife is more famous than you, does it affect your relationship?

Of course not. I pray for her to be the best and I'm proud of her.

When will Sania be seen with you in Pakistan?

It looks like after Eid, due to her Opens and my Leagues.

How difficult is it to manage married life when you both live in different parts of the world?

Very very very difficult. It's like a phone life with your best friend from different hotels and cities.

If Sania wants to act in films in future, will you allow her?

After I approve the her, yes, not before. (sic)

What comes next to your heart after cricket and of course Sania Mirza?

No sequence like that, but you missed my mom.

Have you ever player tennis or cricket with Sania Bhabhi?

Yes, we coach each other.

When are you coming to Hyderabad?

Very soon, but it's a personal trip, so not announcing here, but you will see pics.

Do you and Sania have couple fights sometimes?

Yes, but she starts all of them and I end all of them. not really, but yes, we do sometimes.

Who would you support if there was a match between Pakistani tennis star and your wife?

My wife, of course, as the player, and Pakistan as the nation.

Who holds the TV remote? Of course, bhabhi, hai na?

Always Sania, always.

Ever loved a girl as a teenager?

Yes, and it wasn't Sania.

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Sayantan Das beats Stojanovic; in sight of GM norm

DUBAI: International Master Sayantan Das closed in on his Grandmaster norm, defeating Serbian Mihajlo Stojanovic in the seventh round of Dubai International Open chess tournament here at the Dubai Chess and Culture club.

Das has now taken his tally to a very respectable five points out of a possible seven, and given the strong opposition he has faced here either one or 1.5 points in the last two rounds should fetch him the Grandmaster norm.

K Rathnakaran also continued with his fine run in the tournament and played out a draw with GM Alexander Rakhmanov of Russia with ease.

Rathnakaran also moved to five points in all but his chances of a GM norm are not good as he did not faced higher ranked opposition in the first few rounds.

Meanwhile, the highest rated Indian, Abhijeet Gupta finally found his form and played an excellent game with white pieces to beat compatriot Nr Visakh.

It was a reverse Benoni wherein Visakh gave up a good fight but Gupta gained a small advantage and nurtured it well to win a piece by force. Gupta moved to 4.5 points and will need to win the last two games to figure among prizes.

Among other Indians in the fray, Rakesh Kulkarni lived up to his reputation of a giant killer and put it across Grandmaster Sahaj Grover. It was a bad day in office for young Grover when nothing went right for him.

The French defense as black led to problems that could not be solved and Kulkarni won a piece early to score a facile victory.

Murali Karthikeyan, R Lazman, Sagar Shah and Eesha Karavade also moved up to 4.5 points and have a chance to figure in the list of USD 50000 prize money tournament.

Karthikeyan hit form and scored over Abhishek Kelkar, Laxman had a good draw against higher ranked Brazilian Alexander Fier, Sagar Shah had it easy against Sameer Kathmale, while Karavade accounted for Fawzy Adham of Egypt.

Alexander Shabalov of United States outplayed Andrei Istratescu of France to jointly lead the tables with Vladimir Fedoseev of Russia. With just two rounds to go, both leaders have six points apiece.

In a bizarre incident, Grandmaster Gaioz Nigaladze of Georgia forfeited his previous round game when he was found cheating on a mobile device. Nigaladze's frequent visits to the toilet made his opponent Tigran Petrosian suspicious and he asked for a checking of his opponent.

When nothing was found on Nigaladze, Petrosian still insisted something was not right and followed him to the toilet again where he found that the Georgian wanted to use one particular toilet instead of available ones.

The arbiters checked the toilet when it was vacated and found a mobile device hidden with headphones. Once it was established that it belonged to Nigaladze, the Georgian was declared lost and did not figure in the next round pairings.

Nigaldze has been twice Georgian champion and won the AL-Ain Classic earlier this year.

Important and Indian results round 7 (Indians unless stated): Solak Dragan (Tur, 5.5) drew with David Howell (Eng, 5.5); Vladimir Fedoseev (Rus, 6) beat Daniele Vocaturo (Ita, 5); Alexander Shabalov (Usa, 6) beat Andrei Istratescu (Fra, 5); Nils Grandelius (Swe, 5.5) drew with Yuri Solodovnichenko (Ukr, 5.5); Gadir Guseinov (Aze, 5.5) beat Igor Kovalenko (Lat, 4.5); K Rathnakaran (5) drew with Aleksandr Rakhmanov (5); Sayantan Das (5) beat Mihajlo Stojanovic (Srb, 4); Jaan Ehlvest (Usa, 5) beat S Vijayalakshmi (5); Alexander Fier (Bra, 4.5) drew with R Laxman (4.5) Abhijeet Gupta 4.5) beat Nr Visakh (4.5); Nr Vignesh (3.5) lost to Alexander Kovchan (Ukr, 3.5); Rakesh Kulkarni (4.5) beat Sahaj Grover (3.5); S Arun Prasad (4) drew with Eduard Kanter (Rus, 4); Abhishek Kelkar (3.5) lost to Murali Karthikeyan (4.5); Sagar Shah (4.5) beat Sameer Kathmale (3.5); Rajarishi Karthi (3.5) lost to S Kidambi (4.5); Eesha Karavade (4.5) beat Fawzy Adham (Egy, 3.5); Iva Videnova (Bul, 3) lost to Aniruddha Deshpande (4.5); Mehar Chinna Reddy (4) beat Mohammed Tarig Elther (Sud, 3); Nabil Saleh (Uae, 3) lost to L N Ram Aravind (4); Siva Mahadevan (4) beat Mohannad Farhan (Jor, 3); A M Soozankar (Iri, 3) lost to Vinayak Kulkarni (4); Mona Khaled (Egy, 4) beat Rajesh Vasanthakumar(3); Nail Bashirli (Aze, 3.5) beat Amruta Mokal (2.5); Jijo Joy (2) lost to Akshay V Halagannavar (3); Elmejbri Ali (Lba, 2) lost to Aswin Sreekumar (3).

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Rathnakaran beats Kovchan to jump to joint ninth

DUBAI: International Master K Rathnakaran continued with his fine form as he defeated Grandmaster Alexander Kovchan of Ukraine to jump to joint ninth spot after the end of the sixth round of Dubai International Open chess tournament on Sunday.

After winning the important game today with black pieces, Rathnakaran emerged as the best performing Indian in the fray thus far and moved to 4.5 points out of a possible six games.

Rathnakaran played his pet French defense with black pieces and caught Kovchan napping in a better position. The Indian had sacrificed a piece for two pawns in the middle game and was rewarded for his brave move when Kovchan lost track and lost two pieces in tandem.

Meanwhile, draws were the order of the day at the top of the table as top seed David Howell of England signed peace with American counterpart Alexander Shabalov, French Andrei Istratescu drew with Vladimir Fedoseev of Russia while Igor Kovalenko (4.5) of Latvia achieved the same result against Nils Grandeloius of Sweden.

As a result, it's now an eight-way lead at the top with the five previous leaders are now joined by Solak Dragun of Turkey, Daniele Vocaturo of Italy and Yuri Solodovnichenko of Ukraine.

With three rounds still remaining in the $50000 prize money tournament, Rathnakaran is the only Indian sharing the ninth spot and a good finish from here can help the Indian reap high returns.

The highest ranked Indian, Grandmaster Abhijeet Gupta could not find his rhythm yet again as he was held to a draw by compatriot Sameer Kathmale. Up against an Alapin opening, Gupta faced stiff resistance from Kathmale and even stood worse at one point in the game. However, exchanges at regular intervals restored the parity and the draw was another good result for Kathmale. Both Gupta and Kathmale have 3.5 points each.

Grandmaster Sahaj Grover also moved to 3.5 points after defeating talented Azerbaijani Nail Bashirli. It was a Sicilian defense wherein Grover won a pawn early in the opening and went on to score an easy victory after a shocking defeat at the hands of Abhishek Kelkar in the previous game.

Kelkar, however, ran out of steam as he went down fighting against Serbian Grandmaster Milos Perunovic in this round.

Among other Indians in the fray, Grandmaster R R Laxman and International Masters Sayantan Das and S Vijayalakshmi reached four points apiece and raised visions of an improved performance. Of the three, Das played a solid game to hold Hungarian Grandmaster Peter Prohaszka of Hungary, Laxman defeated A M Soozankar of Iran while Vijayalakshmi accounted for David Bit-Narva of Sweden.

Important and Indian Results Round 6 (Indians unless specified): David Howell (Eng, 5) drew with Alexander Shabalov (Usa, 5); Andrei Istratescu (Fra, 5) drew with Vladimir Fedoseev (Rus, 5); Igor Kovalenko (Lat, 4.5) drew with Nils Grandelius (Swe, 5); Yuriy Kuzubov (Ukr, 4) lost to Solak Dragan (Tur, 5); Mateusz Bartel (Pol, 4) lost to Daniele Vocaturo (Ita, 5); Yuri Solodovnichenko (Ukr, 5) beat Alexander Ipatov (Tur, 4); Murali Karthikeyan (3.5) lost to Ivan Ivanisevic (Srb, 4.5); Peter Prohaszka (Hun, 4) drew with Sayantan Das (4); Alexander Kovchan (Ukr, 3.5) lost to K Rathnakaran (4.5); Milos Perunovic (Srb, 4) beat Abhishek Kelkar (3.5); Sameer Kathmale (3.5) drew with Abhijeet Gupta (3.5); Fawzy Adham (Egy, 3.5) drew with S Arun Prasad (3.5); Aniruddha Deshpande (3.5) drew with Sagar Shah (3.5); S Kidambi (3.5) drew with Firouzja Alireza (Iri, 3.5); R R Laxman (4) beat A M Soozankar (Iri, 3); Eduard Kanter (Rus, 3.5) drew with Rajarishi Karthi (3.5); S Vijayalakshmi (4) beat David Bit-Narva (Swe, 3); Sahaj Grover (3.5) beat Nail Bashirli (Aze, 2.5); Rowe Duane (Jam, 2.5) lost to Eesha Karavade (2.5): Ahmad Al Khatib (Jor, 2.5) lost to Nr Vignesh (3.5); Nr Visakh (3.5) beat Abdulla Khayala (Aze, 2.5); L N Ram Aravind (3) drew with Mehar Chinna Reddy (3); Myrat Babaliyev (Tkm, 2.5) lost to Rakesh Kulkarni (3.5); Essa Al-Zarouni Kholoud (Uae, 2) lost to Siva Mahadevan (3); Vinayak Kulkarni (3) beat Elmejbri Ali (Lba, 2); Amruta Mokal (2.5) beat Mayed Alrashedi (Uae, 1.5); Inacio Rodrigues (2.5) beat M Kloub (Jor, 1.5).

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Lee returns home from doping hearing hoping for mercy

KUALA LUMPUR: Former badminton number one Lee Chong Wei returned home to Malaysia on Monday and said he faced a three-week wait for the verdict from his doping hearing.

The twice Olympic silver medallist faced a three-person Badminton World Federation (BWF) panel in Amsterdam on Saturday after testing positive for the banned anti-inflammatory drug dexamethasone during the world championships in August.

"I have cooled down a bit since the hearing. I had waited six months for it and now all we have to do is wait another three weeks for the result," Lee told reporters at the airport on Monday.

"Obviously, I am hoping for a good result. I am quite happy with our lawyer as he gave a clear and detailed presentation.

"I cannot say more than that, we will just have to wait for the panel to decide."

Lee could face a two-year ban if found guilty, which is likely to lead to the 32-year-old's retirement.

Malaysian media speculated their favourite sporting son, who has been provisionally suspended by the BWF since November, could be handed a shorter, backdated penalty or even cleared.

Lee had originally hoped for an immediate verdict.

The world number 17 said the three-week delay meant he would likely miss the Sudirman Cup and the April 30 ranking cut off for the Aug. 10-16 world championships in Jakarta.

"If the panel takes three weeks to decide, my hopes of competing are over," the three-times world championship runner-up said.

"But it is alright if I do not make it to these two tournaments.

"I am more determined to make a comeback to qualify for next year's Olympics in Rio de Janeiro."

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No badminton tournament safe from fixing, says Vittinghus

SINGAPORE: A top Danish badminton player who was approached to fix matches said that "no tournament is safe" from corruption and said he was sure some events were being rigged.

World number 11 Hans-Kristian Vittinghus, who was targeted last year by a Malaysian man, said it would be naive to think that all badminton matches were clean.

"Money is growing in badminton, which is a positive thing in many ways," Vittinghus said by telephone from Denmark during the Singapore Open, which finished on Sunday.

"But of course money also attracts other interest like match-fixing, for example... I am sure (match-fixing) is still going on, I think it will be naive to say that it's not."

Match-fixing is a problem in many sports, including football and cricket, and Vittinghus's complaint last year rang alarm bells for badminton.

He said he was approached via Facebook at the Japan Open by a man he had met at previous tournaments, who claimed to have fixed matches at last year's Singapore Open and Thomas Cup.

Vittinghus's fellow Dane and doubles specialist Kim Astrup was also offered 2,500 to 3,000 euros (US$2,648-3,177) to throw matches, as well as the chance to bet on the outcomes.

Both players declined and reported the incident to the Badminton World Federation (BWF), which handed it over to police for investigation.

The BWF had no further comment on the matter when approached by AFP.

"I think no tournament is safe because of the world we live in with the Internet and the implications it has, so it can happen anywhere and not only in Asia," Vittinghus said.

Doping has also emerged as a possible problem for badminton, one of Asia's most popular sports, after former world number one Lee Chong Wei failed a drugs test last year.

Denmark's Mads Conrad-Petersen said he hoped badminton would pour resources into combating match-fixing, or risk having its integrity compromised.

"It's just important to have some resources into this (match-fixing issue) so we can get it stopped," Conrad-Petersen told AFP in Singapore.

"It's in every sport, also in football and when there's betting and there's someone who wants to cheat it's important that people focus on (getting rid of) it."

No details have been released about which matches may have been targeted at last year's Singapore Open and Thomas Cup, which rank among badminton's biggest tournaments.

"I don't feel unsafe or anything because I went public with the story and I have never played in a match where I thought my opponent was fixing or anything," said Vittinghus.

In an earlier statement about the incident, BWF president Poul-Erik Hoyer said the world body "takes all reports of match-fixing allegations absolutely seriously".

"It is especially important that players are aware of the adverse effects of match-fixing and that the only safe route is to reject any approaches from individuals soliciting their involvement in match-fixing," he added.

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Suresh Raina offers prayers at Navagraha temple

NAGAPATTINAM: Recently married Indian cricketer Suresh Raina on Monday offered players at the 'navagraha' temples located in the district.

In a whirlwind visit, Raina, who married his Priyanka on April 3, offered prayers at the temples dedicated to the 'navagraha' (celestial planets) in Thiruvenkadu, Keezhaperumpallam and Thirupambaram villages.

Sporting sacred ash and sandal paste on his forehead, Raina cheerfully went round the temples.

A large number of people vied with each other to have a glimpse of the Chennai Super Kings cricketer.

Tight security arrangements had been made at all the places, police said.

It is the belief of devotees that a visit to these temples would enable them overcome any malefic effect of the nine planets.

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Momota makes Super Series history for Japan

SINGAPORE: Kento Momota became the first Japanese man to win a Super Series badminton singles title when he beat Hong Kong's Hu Yun in a thrilling Singapore Open final on Sunday.

Playing his first final in the elite series, the world number 10 saved his best for last when he reeled off six consecutive points to seal it 21-17, 16-21, 21-15.

"The margin was really close and Hu Yun was really good offensively," said Momota.

"I was running around and trying to keep patient, patient and that was the key to winning this match."

The women's final was even closer as China's Sun Yu saved three match points against Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan for what was also her maiden Super Series win.

Sun shrieked with joy and threw herself on the floor in celebration after she strung together five straight points in the third game to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

"I'm overjoyed. I came to Singapore last year and it was the first time I got into the semifinals but lost eventually," said the 21-year-old, who won it 21-13, 19-21, 22-20.

"Now it's my second time and I won the championship, so Singapore must be a lucky place for me."

In the mixed doubles, there was a whiff of controversy as Chinese top seeds Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei profited from a walkover from their compatriots Lu Kai and Huang Yaqiong.

A statement said Lu had aggravated a knee injury. In 2011 in Singapore, Chinese star Lin Dan was loudly booed for pulling out of the men's final against countryman Chen Jin.

Lu and Huang's withdrawal was posted on the electronic scoreboard but was not announced to the crowd.

But Zhang, playing in the men's doubles final later with Fu Haifeng, was unable to capitalise on the extra rest as they lost 21-15, 11-21, 21-14 to unseeded Indonesians Angga Pratama and Ricky Karanda Suwardi.

In the women's doubles, China's Ou Dongni and Yu Xiaohan upset top seeds Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahasi of Japan 21-17, 21-16.

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Four share lead after third round in Weekend Rapid Chess

NAGPUR: Four players shared the lead with three points each to their credit after the end of the third round in the Sushilatai Hardas memorial 10th NDCA Weekend Rapid Chess tournament at the NIT Recreation Centre, Surendra Nagar, here on Saturday.

Shubham Lakudkar, Tanya Pandey, Saurabh Lokhande and T Chandran maintained their winning streak to emerge as joint leaders.

RESULTS (Round 3)

DS Mukherjee (2) lost to Shubham Lakudkar (3), Tanya Pandey (3) bt Vinay Barhanpure (2), Sheikh Javed (2) lost to Saurabh Lokhande (3), T Chandran (3) bt Shubham Manjare (2), Mrudul Dehankar (2.5) Mayur Shelke (2.5), Raunak Sadhwani (2.5) bt Roneet Das (2), VK Shrivastava (2) bt Nilesh Wasnik (1.5), Yashwant Shamkuwar (2) bt Devansh Sarda (1), Sultan Chimthanwala (1) lost to Harsh Kanoje (2), BC Borkar (2) bt Amey Tarankanthiwar (1).

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NCA to hold chess coaching camp for beginners

NAGPUR: Nagpur Chess Academy (NCA) is organizing chess coaching camp here at the Vidarbha Bridge (VBA) Hall, 285, Shankar Nagar from April 15 to June 15 in morning and evening session.

There will be two categories of coaching. First for the learners in which how to play chess, notations, format of game like opening game, middle game, end game and total technical understanding of chess will be taught.

The second category will be for the beginners, 'a journey from beginner to a medal winning player'. Participant will learn the strategies, ideas and specific training about the game.

Former National-level player Jayant Katdare is conducting regular coaching at NCA for the rated players. Some of the top reputed players will also visit and explain some interesting facts about chess, share their ideas and check the strength of players.

There will be special sessions for the parents and their children about how to play matches and how to solve the queries.

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Unbeaten Garcia wins close decision over Peterson

NEW YORK: Danny Garcia just about kept his undefeated record intact as he saw off Lamont Peterson by a majority decision in a 143-pound non-title fight in Brooklyn on Saturday.

Garcia dominated the early rounds then held on to edge out his fellow American for the decision. Two of the judges scored it 115-113 for Garcia while the third had it 114-114.

Garcia was the more aggressive fighter in the first half of the bout before Peterson took control in the later rounds, capping his night with an impressive 12th round performance.

"I knew it would be a tough fight," Garcia said. "I told him you can't win a big fight by running.

"He came strong at me because he knew he was losing on points." Both Garcia and Peterson hold lightweight titles but Saturday's bout was held at the catch weight of 143 pounds.

Peterson, who frustrated Garcia at times with his nimble footwork, didn't like the decision but said he would be willing to go again.

"I am not so sure I gave him the early rounds," Peterson said. "He was missing a lot of punches and I was landing my jab. I would love a rematch."

Garcia improved to 30-0 with 17 knockouts while Peterson dropped to 33-3-1.

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Rathnakaran beats Kovchan to jump to joint ninth

DUBAI: International Master K Rathnakaran continued with his fine form as he defeated Grandmaster Alexander Kovchan of Ukraine to jump to joint ninth spot after the end of the sixth round of Dubai International Open chess tournament on Sunday.

After winning the important game today with black pieces, Rathnakaran emerged as the best performing Indian in the fray thus far and moved to 4.5 points out of a possible six games.

Rathnakaran played his pet French defense with black pieces and caught Kovchan napping in a better position. The Indian had sacrificed a piece for two pawns in the middle game and was rewarded for his brave move when Kovchan lost track and lost two pieces in tandem.

Meanwhile, draws were the order of the day at the top of the table as top seed David Howell of England signed peace with American counterpart Alexander Shabalov, French Andrei Istratescu drew with Vladimir Fedoseev of Russia while Igor Kovalenko (4.5) of Latvia achieved the same result against Nils Grandeloius of Sweden.

As a result, it's now an eight-way lead at the top with the five previous leaders are now joined by Solak Dragun of Turkey, Daniele Vocaturo of Italy and Yuri Solodovnichenko of Ukraine.

With three rounds still remaining in the $50000 prize money tournament, Rathnakaran is the only Indian sharing the ninth spot and a good finish from here can help the Indian reap high returns.

The highest ranked Indian, Grandmaster Abhijeet Gupta could not find his rhythm yet again as he was held to a draw by compatriot Sameer Kathmale. Up against an Alapin opening, Gupta faced stiff resistance from Kathmale and even stood worse at one point in the game. However, exchanges at regular intervals restored the parity and the draw was another good result for Kathmale. Both Gupta and Kathmale have 3.5 points each.

Grandmaster Sahaj Grover also moved to 3.5 points after defeating talented Azerbaijani Nail Bashirli. It was a Sicilian defense wherein Grover won a pawn early in the opening and went on to score an easy victory after a shocking defeat at the hands of Abhishek Kelkar in the previous game.

Kelkar, however, ran out of steam as he went down fighting against Serbian Grandmaster Milos Perunovic in this round.

Among other Indians in the fray, Grandmaster R R Laxman and International Masters Sayantan Das and S Vijayalakshmi reached four points apiece and raised visions of an improved performance. Of the three, Das played a solid game to hold Hungarian Grandmaster Peter Prohaszka of Hungary, Laxman defeated A M Soozankar of Iran while Vijayalakshmi accounted for David Bit-Narva of Sweden.

Important and Indian Results Round 6 (Indians unless specified): David Howell (Eng, 5) drew with Alexander Shabalov (Usa, 5); Andrei Istratescu (Fra, 5) drew with Vladimir Fedoseev (Rus, 5); Igor Kovalenko (Lat, 4.5) drew with Nils Grandelius (Swe, 5); Yuriy Kuzubov (Ukr, 4) lost to Solak Dragan (Tur, 5); Mateusz Bartel (Pol, 4) lost to Daniele Vocaturo (Ita, 5); Yuri Solodovnichenko (Ukr, 5) beat Alexander Ipatov (Tur, 4); Murali Karthikeyan (3.5) lost to Ivan Ivanisevic (Srb, 4.5); Peter Prohaszka (Hun, 4) drew with Sayantan Das (4); Alexander Kovchan (Ukr, 3.5) lost to K Rathnakaran (4.5); Milos Perunovic (Srb, 4) beat Abhishek Kelkar (3.5); Sameer Kathmale (3.5) drew with Abhijeet Gupta (3.5); Fawzy Adham (Egy, 3.5) drew with S Arun Prasad (3.5); Aniruddha Deshpande (3.5) drew with Sagar Shah (3.5); S Kidambi (3.5) drew with Firouzja Alireza (Iri, 3.5); R R Laxman (4) beat A M Soozankar (Iri, 3); Eduard Kanter (Rus, 3.5) drew with Rajarishi Karthi (3.5); S Vijayalakshmi (4) beat David Bit-Narva (Swe, 3); Sahaj Grover (3.5) beat Nail Bashirli (Aze, 2.5); Rowe Duane (Jam, 2.5) lost to Eesha Karavade (2.5): Ahmad Al Khatib (Jor, 2.5) lost to Nr Vignesh (3.5); Nr Visakh (3.5) beat Abdulla Khayala (Aze, 2.5); L N Ram Aravind (3) drew with Mehar Chinna Reddy (3); Myrat Babaliyev (Tkm, 2.5) lost to Rakesh Kulkarni (3.5); Essa Al-Zarouni Kholoud (Uae, 2) lost to Siva Mahadevan (3); Vinayak Kulkarni (3) beat Elmejbri Ali (Lba, 2); Amruta Mokal (2.5) beat Mayed Alrashedi (Uae, 1.5); Inacio Rodrigues (2.5) beat M Kloub (Jor, 1.5).

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Lee doping hearing starts in Amsterdam

AMSTERDAM: Malaysian ace Lee Chong Wei's long-awaited doping hearing opened before a three-member Badminton World Federation panel Saturday in Amsterdam, a BWF official said, where the former world number one has vowed to clear his name.

"The hearing is starting" at a hotel near Schiphol International Airport, the official, who declined to be named, said.

Lee's London-based lawyer Mike Morgan refused to comment before the hearing started behind closed doors, with the press being barred access to the hotel.

The BWF also declined to comment, with the federation's Gayle Alleyne telling: "At the appropriate time, BWF will communicate as required."

However, the official said no verdict was expected on Saturday, as the panel needed several days to reach a finding and write their report.

"It's a highly technical issue," the official added.

Last month two-time Olympic silver medallist Lee told the Malaysian-based Star newspaper he hoped the hearing would clear his name and allow him to compete in the 2016 Olympic Games.

"Please pray for me and wish me well (for the hearing session). All I want is to clear my name and return to Badminton," Lee recently tweeted.

Lee, 32, tested positive for the banned anti-inflammatory drug dexamethasone at last year's World Championships in Copenhagen, where he lost to China's Chen Long in the final.

If found guilty, he could face a career-ending two-year ban.

One of Malaysia's most popular sports stars, Lee said he received dexamethasone during stem cell treatment for a thigh injury in July last year.

He has maintained that he would retire if he were banned for two years.

Lee has the support of the Badminton Association of Malaysia, with the BWF saying Lee was suspended "due to an apparent anti-doping regulation violation" while the panel considers whether he committed an offence.

Lee has also voiced fears he would never realize his dream of becoming world and Olympic champion.

Despite topping the rankings for years and reaching three world championship finals and two Olympic finals, Lee has never won either of Badminton's two major titles.

He has dropped to 17th on the latest BWF rankings, with his main rival Chen in top spot.

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'Relaxed' Lee Chong Wei arrives for doping case hearing

AMSTERDAM: A calm looking former World No.1 badminton star Lee Chong Wei arrived early for his doping violation hearing that began here on Saturday at Sheraton Hotel amidst tight security.

Dressed in a blue suit, a calm looking Chong Wei arrived accompanied by Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) general manager Kenny Goh for the hearing in front of a three-member independent panel from Badminton World Federation (BWF).

The waiting media at the hotel to follow the hearing was ordered out of the premises by security personnel upon strict orders from BWF.

Chong Wei smiled and waved before he was whisked into the hearing room.

Last month, two-time Olympic silver medallist Lee said he hoped the hearing would clear his name and allow him to compete in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

Lee, 32, tested positive for the banned anti-inflammatory drug dexamethasone at last year's World Championships in Copenhagen, where he lost to China's Chen Long in the final.

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India's campaign ends in Singapore Open with Kashyap's loss

SINGAPORE: India's campaign in the Singapore Open Super Series badminton tournament ended on Saturday as Parupalli Kashyap conceded a one game advantage to go down to Hong Kong's Hu Yun in the semifinals of the men's singles.

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The world No. 15 Indian lost 22-20, 11-21, 14-21 to Yun, ranked 13th, in a contest that lasted 58 minutes at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in the $300,000 event.

After this match, Yun has taken a 3-1 lead in career meetings against Kashyap.

The 28-year-old shuttler from Hyderabad started off with a bang, opening up a 3-0 lead and then extending it to 12-4. He kept on maintaining a healthy edge and was comfortably cruising at 19-15.

But just when Kashyap thought of wrapping up the game with ease, Yun fought back with four straight points to make it 19-19.

At 20-20, a cautious Kashyap held on to his nerves and scored two quick points to win the first game.

In the second game, Kashyap completely ran out of steam as he lagged behind from the very beginning and could never catch up with his opponent, who simply stole the game 21-11, to take it to the decider.

The third game turned out to be no different for Kashyap. Breaking away at 1-1, Yun simple surged ahead once again and always maintained a massive lead, even as Kashyap fell far behind and never looked in contention, losing tamely in the end.

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PM Modi, French President Francois Hollande presented cricket jerseys

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande have been presented with cricket jerseys with their names emblazoned on it.

"Q: T20 Cricket in France? A: Oui. Surprise for PM @narendramodi & Prez @fhollande at Elysee Palace banquet," External Ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said in a tweet on Saturday.

Akbaruddin also shared images of the two leaders posing with their respective jerseys, both of which said number 1.

Modi's jersey read: "France Cricket N. Modi 1", while Hollande's said: "France Cricket F. Hollande 1".

"Bharat aur France -- ek aur ek gyarah," Akbaruddin said. (India and France -- one and one make eleven.)

Modi arrived in France on Thursday on the first leg of his three-nation tour, which will also take him to Germany and Canada.

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Karthik gets the better of Beshukov in Dubai Open

DUBAI: Young India chess player Rajarishi Karthik defeated Grandmaster Sergei Beshukov of Russia to earn his career best result in the fifth round of Dubai International Open chess tournament here.

Playing with the black pieces, Karthik equalized easily out of an English opening and just when his experienced opponent was exerting pressure, the Indian found a deep hole in his plan and capitalized on an optical blunder to win handsomely in just 30 moves.

Karthik moved to three points with this victory.

However, the higher ranked Indians had a forgettable day on the lone double round day and a lot of hard work lies ahead of all of them to make a comeback.

The highest rated Indian in the fray and a former winner of this tournament - Abhijeet Gupta could not find his form yet again, despite enjoying a great advantage against compatriot and BPCL- teammate S Kidambi.

The game that started with the Knights-Tango ended in a draw, leaving Gupta with just three points and in a very unfamiliar situation in the event post the half-way stage.

The way back for the Indian star is to win a couple of games on the trot and then hope to do his best in the last two rounds.

Grandmaster Sahaj Grover, who suffered from a Laptop-crashing right at the beginning of the tournament, also proved that without the most wanted gazette, even a Grandmaster is sometimes helpless.

Playing the black side of a Benoni against compatriot Abhishek Kulkarki, Grover lost out a Benoni opening and remained on 2.5 points out of his five games.

The best placed Indian GM S Arun Prasad also lost his game against Yuriy Kuzubov of Ukraine. While for the Ukrainian, it was fourth straight victory after a shocking first round defeat, it did not serve Prasad's call as he was tamed out of a level position out of an English opening.

The hero of the previous round, India's Sameer Kathmale also met his nemesis in Tamas Banusz of Hungary. Sayantan Das lost to Eltaj Safarli of Azerbaijan, while Italian Daniele Vocaturo proved too strong for R R Laxman.

Meanwhile, at the top of the tables as many as five players emerged as co-leaders on 4.5 points each. They are David Howell of England, Nils Grandelius of Sweden, Vladimir Fedoseev of Russia, Alexander Shabalov of United States and Andrei Istratescu of France.

The race for the Dubai Open crown is wide open past the half-way stage, but Indians currently lag far behind.

Important and Indian results round 5 (Indians unless specified): Nils Grandelius (Swe, 4.5) drew with David Howell (Eng, 4.5); Vladimir Fedoseev (Rus, 4.5) beat Yuri Solodovnichenko (Ukr, 4); S Arun Prasad (3) lost to Yuriy Kuzubov (Ukr, 4); Sayantan Das (3) lost to Eltaj Safarli (Aze, 4); Daniele Vocaturo (Ita, 4) beat R R Laxman (3); Tamas Banusz (Hun, 4) beat Sameer Kathmale (3); Gaioz Nigalidze (Geo, 4) beat Aniruddha Deshpande (3); Eesha Karavade (2.5) lost to Tigran Petrosian (Arm, 3.5); Abhijeet Gupta (3) drew with S Kidambi (3); Alexandr Fier (Bra, 3.5) beat Nr Visakh (2.5); Mehar Chinna Reddy (2.5) lost to Aleksandr Rakhmanov (Rus, 3.5); Nr Vignesh (2.5) lost to Peter Prohaszka (Hun, 3.5); Abhishek Kelkar (3.5) beat Sahaj Grover (2.5); Abdulla Khayala (Aze, 2.5) lost to Murali Karthikeyan (3.5); Sagar Shah (3) drew with Nino Maisuradze (Geo, 3); Rakesh Kulkarni (2.5) lost to Pascua Haridas (Phi, 3.5); Manuel Petrosyan (Arm, 3.5) beat L N Ram Aravind (2.5); K Rathnakaran (3.5) beat Myrat Babaliyev (Tkm, 2.5); Sergei Beshukov (Rus, 2) lost to Rajarishi Karthi (3); Siva Mahadevan (2) lost to S Vijayalakshmi (3); Isaev Jamshed (Tjk, 3) beat Vinakay Kulkarni (2);Zeinab Mamedjarova (Aze, 2.5) beat Amruta Mokal (1.5); Abdulla Al-Hamed (Uae, 2) beat Akshay V Halagannavar (1).

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Parupalli Kashyap enters Singapore Open semifinals

SINGAPORE: Indian ace Parupalli Kashyap continued his impressive form, advancing to the semifinals of Singapore Open Super Series badminton tournament but young HS Prannoy was left ruing his luck as a foot injury saw him concede his quarterfinal match on Friday.

Commonwealth Games champion Kashyap brushed aside France's Brice Leverdez 21-6, 21-17 in 30 minutes to set up a semifinal clash with Hong Kong's Hu Yun on Saturday.

Prannoy, on the other hand, could not take the court after his foot injury -- suffered during his giant-killing act against Denmark's Jan Jorgensen on Thursday -- aggravated on Friday and he had to give a walkover to Japan's Kento Momota in another quarterfinal match.

Kashyap hardly broke any sweat against Brice as he dished out a game which the French could not negotiate. The Indian opened up a 6-1 lead early on and did not allow the Frenchman to come closer to him.

Kashyap was at his dominating best in the opening game as from 9-6, he registered 12 straight points to leave Brice completely clueless.

In the second game, Kashyap once again took a 4-1 lead early on and kept his nose ahead, despite a fighting Brice who could only manage to reduce the gap to 7-9 at one stage. The Indian never lost the grip from the match and sealed the issue comfortably in the end.

Kashyap has a 1-2 head-to-head record against his semifinal opponent Hu Yun but the Indian can take heart from the fact that he had defeated the Hong Kong shuttler during the 2013 BWF World Championships.

Prannoy, who hogged the limelight yesterday after his second successive win over world number two Jorgensen, could just watch from the sidelines after he was left with a swollen feet due to the injury suffered yesterday.

"It just happened during the second game yesterday. Bad luck. Doctors have said I should be fine in 4-5 days. So hoping to recover as early as possible," Prannoy, who is ranked world number 14, said.

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Brook to defend IBF welterweight title against English rival

LONDON: Kell Brook will defend his IBF welterweight belt against Frankie Gavin in an all-English world title fight in London on May 30.

It will be Brook's second title defense, after stopping Jo Jo Dan in four rounds last month.

The 29-year-old Gavin lost a split decision against European welterweight champion Leonard Bundu last year for his first defeat as a professional.

Brook had wanted to take on Amir Khan in his next fight. Khan, though, has chosen a fight against Chris Algieri.

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Sameer Kathmale beats Jaan Ehlvest in Dubai Open

DUBAI (UAE): International Master Sameer Kathmale caused a flutter by defeating highly-regarded Jaan Ehlvest in the fourth round of Dubai International Open chess tournament on Friday.

Playing the white side of a Ruy Lopez, Kathmale punished Estonian-turned American Ehlvest for entering unwarranted complications out of an equal position once the queens got traded.

The Indian was precise in his technique after Ehlvest sacrificed two pieces for a rook and pawn in the endgame and converted his material advantage in to a full point after 58 moves.

The victory took Kathmale to three points out of a possible four and he has emerged as one of the best performing Indians in this $50000 prize money tournament.

Fancied Indian Grandmaster and former champion here, Abhijeet Gupta suffered a shock defeat at the hands of experienced Alexander Shabalov of United States.

Gupta faced a highly original plan by the American in a Sicilian Najdorf game and though he equalised out of the opening, Shabalov had a nagging edge. In the middle game however, Gupta could not handle the attack on his king and eventually lost a piece to go down.

Grandmaster Sahaj Grover enjoyed a winning advantage against compatriot Mehar Chenna Reddy but a blunder in the middle game cost the former dearly as Reddy escaped with a draw. It was on the 34th move out of a Sicilian Rauzer, that Grover missed his chance and drew 10 moves later.

Meanwhile at the top of the tables, top seed David Howell of England maintained a clean slate winning his fourth game on the trot. On the receiving end was Sergey Volkov of Russia who was outdone with the black pieces.

Howell, along with Yuri Solodovnichenko of Ukraine and Nils Grandelius of Sweden share the lead with a clean slate and they followed by a pack of nine players with 3.5 points each.

Indian Grandmasters S Arun Prasad and R R Laxman along with Sayantan Das, Aniruddha Deshpandey and Kathmale are among those who have three points apiece while Gupta and Grover fell behind in the standings on 2.5 points each. There are five rounds still remaining in the tournament that features 39 Grandmasters vying for the first prize of $12000.

Among other Indians in the fray, L N Ram Aravind drew with International Master K Rathnakaran to continue to with his impressive show and reached 2.5 points. Also reaching the same score was GM S Kidambi at the expense of Zeinab Mamedjarova of Azerbaijan and Eesha Karavade who defeated her former Pune city-mate Amruta Mokal.

Important and Indian results round 4 (Indians unless specified): David Howell (Eng, 4) beat Sergey Volkov (Rus, 3); Nils Grandelius (Swe, 4) beat Gaioz Nigalidze (Geo, 3); Yuri Solodovnichenko (Ukr, 4) beat Gadir Guseinov (Aze, 3); Alexander Shabalov (Usa, 3.5) beat Abhijeet Gupta (2.5); Aleksandr Rakhmanov (Rus, 2.5) drew with Nr Vignesh (2.5); Peter Prohaszka (Hun, 2.5) drew with Abhishek Kelkar (2.5); S Vijayalakshmi (2) lost to Daniele Vocaturo (Ita, 3); Sameer Kathmale (3) beat Jaan Ehlvest (Usa, 2); Sahaj Grover (2.5) drew with Mehar Chinna Reddy (2.5); Nabil Saleh (Uae, 2) lost to S Arun Prasad (3); Murali Karthikeyan (2.5) drew with Rakesh Kulkarni (2.5); Mikhail Kuznetsov (Rus, 2.5) drew with Sagar Shah (2.5); Mohannad Farhan (Jor, 2) lost to Sayantan Das (3); Imed Abdelnabbi (Egy, 2) lost to Aniruddha Deshpande (3); L N Ram Aravind (2.5) drew with K Rathnakaran (2.5); R R Laxman (3) beat Saeed Ishaq (Uae, 2); Sundararajan Kidambi (2.5) beat Zeinab Mamedjarova (Aze, 1.5); Amruta Mokal (1.5) lost to Eesha Karavade (2.5); Nr Visakh (2.5) beat Jobannie Tabada (Phi, 1.5); Akshay V Halagannavar (1) lost to Firouzja Alireza (Iri, 2); Rajarishi Karthi (2) beat Elmejbri Ali (Lib, 1); Faisal Ali (Uae, 1) lost to Siva Mahadevan (2); Vinayak Kulkarni (2) beat Abdulla Al-Hamed (Uae, 1); Al Yaghshi M. Hisham (Syr, 2) beat Harikrishnan Samyuktha (1).

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Santoso on course for Singapore Open double

SINGAPORE: Indonesia's Simon Santoso stayed on course to win the first ever consecutive Singapore Open badminton titles as he cruised into the semifinals on Friday.

The unseeded Santoso, now the hot favourite in a field bereft of big names, took just over half-an-hour to beat Thailand's Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk 21-10, 21-19.

With all the men's singles seeds gone, Lee Chong Wei awaiting his fate in a doping case and Lin Dan opting out, Santoso has a golden chance to defend his crown.

In Saturday's semifinals, he will play Japanese world number 10 Kento Momota, who profited from a walkover from India's HS Prannoy.

"For tomorrow, it's definitely not easy. Momota is a resilient player and tomorrow he will definitely work very hard," said the 38th-ranked Santoso.

Hong Kong's Hu Yun, who shocked Chinese top seed Chen Long in the second round, will play Parupalli Kashyap of India in the semifinals.

In the women's singles, the Chinese were made to work hard for their semifinal spots with Wang Shixian and Wang Yihan taking more than an hour to win through.

Second seed Wang Shixian fought hard to beat Akane Yamaguchi 21-18, 21-18, while fourth-seeded Wang Yihan took more than an hour to overcome Ratchanok Intanon 10-21, 21-19, 21-12.

"Perhaps it was the draft (from the air conditioning), I wasn't in control and made more mistakes," said Wang Yihan, when asked about dropping the first game.

"My opponent was more prepared, because every time I play with her, it's not easy. Especially when the time is stretched out, it gets more difficult."

Wang Shixian will play compatriot Sun Yu in the semifinals, while Wang Yihan will face Tai Tzu-ying of Taiwan for a place in the title match on Sunday.

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IBF champion Brook set for all British title fight against Gavin

LONDON: International Boxing Federation welterweight champion Kell Brook said on Friday he felt invincible ahead of his all-British title bout against Frankie Gavin in London on May 30.

The 28-year-old Brook, who has long sought a fight with compatriot Amir Khan, enjoyed a successful inaugural title defence against Jo Jo Dan in the champion's home town of Sheffield, northern England, last month.

Khan will instead take on Chris Algieri as he looks to continue on a path he hopes will lead to a bout with the unbeaten Floyd Mayweather, set to take on Manny Pacquiao in a long-awaited welterweight title clash in Las Vegas on May 2.

Brook, meanwhile was in buoyant mood ahead of his clash with Gavin: "I never expected to be out again so quickly but I can't wait.

"I respect Frankie for stepping up, he has called for this fight for a long time and after he was given a final eliminator against Tim Bradley it made sense for him to take the challenge.

"I feel like I'm unbeatable right now and Gavin isn't going to be able to cope with my speed and power on fight night."

Brook saw off Romanian boxer Dan with a fourth-round stoppage but an undaunted Gavin said: "These are the fights you want to be part of and are where I belong.

"I've dreamt of a world title and I will be 100 percent ready physically and mentally for Kell Brook.

"Of course it's going to be tough but I believe Kell is beatable and I've always felt that I have got the skills and the team to cause an upset."

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Srikanth loses in Singapore Open second round

SINGAPORE: Indian shuttlers Parupalli Kashyap and HS Prannoy notched up superb victories by defeating seeded players to enter the men's singles quarterfinals at the $300,000 Singapore Open Superseries on Thursday.

However, it was the end of the road for third seed Kidambi Srikanth and women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa who lost their respective second round matches at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

The experienced Kashyap came up with a brilliant performance to oust fourth-seeded South Korean Son Wan Ho. The Commonwealth Games champion took 46 minutes to win 21-15, 22-20, registering his first victory over the World No. 5 in three meetings.

Kashyap, 28, will next take on French Brice Leverdez, against whom the Hyderabadi has a 1-1 record. However, the last time they met was four years back in Malaysia.

Later, World No. 14 Prannoy caused one of the biggest upsets of the tournament when he downed Danish second seed Jan O Jorgensen 21-16, 21-8 in only 33 minutes.

Though the World No. 2 was expected to win, Prannoy's 2-0 career advantage, which he has now extended to 3-0, gave the Kerala shuttler the psychological edge going into the match.

Prannoy will next take on Japan's Kento Momota, against whom he has not won in the previous two meetings.

Srikanth, who last month won the India Open Superseries in New Delhi, went down 15-21, 20-22 in 38 minutes to Thai shuttler Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk.

Commonwealth Games champions Jwala and Ashwini later went down to multiple time World Champions Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang. The Indian combine lost 22-24, 18-21, but not before giving a fight in a 40-minute battle.

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Sports minister asks SAI, Boxing India to help Haryana boxer

NEW DELHI: Moved by the plight of a state level gold-medallist boxer who is working as a domestic help, sports minister Sarbananda Sonowal has asked the Sports Authority of India and Boxing India to look into the matter and provide all help to her.

"I have asked SAI and Boxing India to look into the matter and offer all necessary help to the boxer," he said on Thursday.

Sonowal also asked the Haryana government to offer all possible assistance to the state-level gold-medallist boxer, Rishu Mittal, who hails from the state.

Mittal is reportedly being forced to work as a domestic help to continue her passion for the sport and to support her schooling. The class X student toils hard to support herself and her brother.

Her coach Rajinder Singh said Rishu is a promising talent but needs support to flourish and prove her mettle on the big stage.

"The girl and her brother hail from a poor family. Rishu washes utensils, cleans the floor, cooks and does other jobs of a domestic help to raise some money," he said.

In between, she struggles to take out time for her daily practice and attend the school as well. He said if Rishu gets some support from the government and others she can make the country proud like M C Mary Kom.

The coach said Rishu had won a gold medal in a state level championship last year and also represented Haryana at the National Championships in December last year.

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Kashyap advances to Singapore Open quarters

SINGAPORE: Indian shuttlers Parupalli Kashyap and HS Prannoy notched up superb victories to enter the men's singles quarterfinals at the $300,000 Singapore Open Superseries on Thursday.

The experienced Kashyap came up with a brilliant performance to oust fourth-seeded South Korean Son Wan Ho. The Commonwealth Games champion took 46 minutes to win 21-15, 22-20 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium to register his first victory over the World No. 5 in three meetings.

Kashyap, 28, will next take on French Brice Leverdez, against whom the Hyderabadi has a 1-1 record. However, the last time they met was four years back in Malaysia.

Later, World No. 14 Prannoy caused one of the biggest upsets of the tournament when he downed Danish second seed Jan O Jorgensen 21-16, 21-8 in only 33 minutes.

Though the World No. 2 was expected to win, Prannoy's 2-0 career advantage which he has now extended to 3-0, gave the Kerala shuttler the psychological edge going into the match.

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Kashyap, Prannoy enter Singapore Open quarters

SINGAPORE: Indian shuttlers Parupalli Kashyap and HS Prannoy notched up superb victories to enter the men's singles quarterfinals at the $300,000 Singapore Open Superseries on Thursday.

The experienced Kashyap came up with a brilliant performance to oust fourth-seeded South Korean Son Wan Ho. The Commonwealth Games champion took 46 minutes to win 21-15, 22-20 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium to register his first victory over the World No. 5 in three meetings.

Kashyap, 28, will next take on French Brice Leverdez, against whom the Hyderabadi has a 1-1 record. However, the last time they met was four years back in Malaysia.

Later, World No. 14 Prannoy caused one of the biggest upsets of the tournament when he downed Danish second seed Jan O Jorgensen 21-16, 21-8 in only 33 minutes.

Though the World No. 2 was expected to win, Prannoy's 2-0 career advantage which he has now extended to 3-0, gave the Kerala shuttler the psychological edge going into the match.

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GM Abhijeet Gupta held by Iranian GM in Dubai Chess

DUBAI: Indian GM Abhijeet Gupta missed out on a chance to clinch a win as he had to settled for a draw with Iran GM Idani Pouya in the third round of Dubai International Open Chess Tournament on Thursday.

Playing with white pieces, GM Gupta enjoyed a certain advantage in the middle game that ensued and even got one opportunity when the whole point was up for grabs.

However, the Indian missed and Idani, himself a former U-18 World Champion, did not give Gupta a second chance to create an opening.

Up against higher opposition, the Indians had a mediocre day in the third round.

GM Sahaj Grover's opening preparation in the Benoni defence came out fine but he missed his chances in the middle game to equalise and went down to second seed Vladimir Fedoseev of Russia.

Sergei Zhigalko from Belarus also made most of his white pieces like Fedoseev as he scored over talented Indian GM Murali Karthikeyan while the big winners of previous round - Abhishek Kelkar and NR Vignesh went down fighting against Papp Gabor of Hungary and Mikheil Mchedlishvili of Georgia respectively.

Looking for his second GM norm, Sagar Shah also ended on the receiving end against Nils Grandelius of Sweden.

With six rounds still to come in the $50,000 Prize money tournament that has $12,000 purse for the winner, as many as 12 players including top seed David Howell of England share the lead with three points apiece from as many games.

There are no Indians in the leading pack currently and the likes of Gupta, Grover and Karthikeyan will have to do the hard catch-up job in the next few rounds.

LN Ram Arvind produced the upset of the round when he put it across GM Sergei Beshukov of Russia. Arvind's second victory in the tournament took him to two points from his three games thus far.

Among other Indians in the fray, Grandmaster S Arun Prasad, IM S Vijayalakshni, Sameer Kathmale and Aniruddha Deshpandey made amends for the previous round and reached two points each.

The next round will also see some tough clashes for the Indians in the fray here. Gupta is set to meet an experienced Alexander Shabalov of United States while Grover too has a tough opponent in compatriot Mehar Chenna Reddy.

Important and Indian results round 3 (Indians unless specified): Jaan Ehlvest (Usa, 2) lost to David Howell (Eng, 3); Vladimir Fedoseev (Rus, 3) beat Sahaj Grover (2); Sergei Zhigalko (Blr, 3) beat Murali Karthikeyan (2); Zaur Mammadov (Aze, 2) lost to Andrei Istratescu (Fra, 3); Abhijeet Gupta (2.5) drew with Pouya Idani (Iri, 2.5);

Sagar Shah (2) lost to Nils Grandelius (Swe, 3); Nr Vignesh (2) lost to Mikheil Mchedlishvili (Geo, 3); Abhishek Kelkar (2) lost to Papp Gabor (Hun, 3); Rakesh Kulkarni (2) lost to Yuri Solodovnichenko (Ukr, 3); Tigran Petrosian (Arm, 2.5) beat Sundararajan Kidambi (1.5); Ivan Ivanisevic (Srb, 2) drew with R R Laxman (2);

Alexandr Fier (Bra, 2) drew with Eesha Karavade (2); Alexander Shabalov (Usa, 2.5) beat Nr Visakh (1.5); S Arun Prasad (2) beat Narmin Mammadova (Aze, 1); Sayantan Das (2) beat Rajarishi Karthi (1); Mona Khaled (Egy, 1) lost to K Rathnakaran (2);

Sergei Beshukov (Rus, 1) lost to L N Ram Aravind (2); Siva Mahadevan(1) lost to Vahe Baghdasaryan (Aze, 2); Ernest Kharous (Rus, 1.5) drew with Amruta Mokal (1.5); Yousry Salah (Egy, 2) beat Vinayak Kulkarni (1); Boshra Alshaeby (Jor, 1) lost to S Vijayalakshmi (2);

Amna Nouman (Uae, 1) lost to Sameer Kathmale (2); Harikrishnan Samyuktha (1) lost to Fawzy Adham (Egy, 2); Aniruddha Deshpande (2) beat Faisal Ali (Uae, 1); Aswin Sreekumar (0) lost to Akshay V Halagannavar (1).

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Jwala-Ashwini reach second round in Singapore

SINGAPORE: Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap and young HS Prannoy registered contrasting wins in the men's singles to enter the second round of the Singapore Open Super Series on Wednesday.

Kashyap, who won the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold in January this year, brushed aside Korea's Lee Hyun Il 21-11, 21-13 to set up a match with fourth seed Son Wan Ho of Korea, while Indonesia Masters champion, Prannoy beat Hong Kong's Wong Wing Ki Vincent 21-15, 21-17 in another match.

Former world championship bronze medallist pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa also got the better of Korean combo of Go Ah Ra and Yoo Hae Won 21-12, 21-16 to reach the second round of women's doubles competition.

However, it was curtains for RMV Gurusaidutt and PC Thulasi after they suffered defeats in the opening round of the men's and women's singles, respectively.

Gurusaidutt squandered a first-game advantage to go down fighting 21-16, 12-21, 15-21 to Son Wan Ho, while Line Kjaersfeldt of Denmark outclassed Thulasi 21-16, 21-14 in a 35-minute match.

India's mixed doubles combo of Tarun Kona and N Sikki Reddy, too, could not cross the first hurdle, going down 15-21, 17-21 to fifth seeds Ko Sung Hyun and Kim Ha Na of Korea.

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Haryana Sports Minister announces Rs 1 lakh to boxer Rishu

CHANDIGARH: Haryana Sports Minister Anil Vij on Wednesday announced a financial assistance of Rs one lakh to 16-year-old boxer Rishu Mittal of Kaithal, a state-level gold medallist, who was being forced to work as a domestic help to continue her passion for the sport and to support her schooling.

An offer has also been given to her for enrollment in National Sports Academy so that she could get better facilities to become a national player.

Acting swiftly on media reports and taking cognizance of the matter, the minister directed to provide assistance of Rs one lakh to the player.

At present, the player is getting training in academy and a stipend of Rs 2000 was being given to her, an official release said here.

The minister said if she wants the Sports Department would get her enrolled in National Sports Academy, Rohtak where all facilities were provided free of cost.

In this academy, Rishu would get golden chance of becoming a national player, he added.

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Shuttlers Kashyap, Prannoy advance in Singapore

SINGAPORE: Indian shuttlers Parupalli Kashyap and HS Prannoy notched up straight games victories to progress to the men's singles second round at the $300,000 Singapore Open Superseries on Wednesday.

A little later women's doubles pair Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa also advanced to the second round beating South Koreans Go Ah Ra and Yoo Hae Won 21-12, 21-16 in 33 minutes at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

World No.17 Kashyap had an easy outing against South Korean Lee Hyun Il as he came out on top 21-11, 21-13 in 33 minutes to earn his second win over the World No.26 in five meetings.

The Indian will next take on another South Korean, fourth seed Son Wan Ho against whom Kashyap has never won in their previous two meetings.

Son earlier took care of Kashyap's compatriot R.M.V. Gurusaidutt 16-21, 21-12, 21-15 in an hour and three minutes before progressing to the second round.

On the other hand, Prannoy defeated Hong Kong's Wong Wing Ki Vincent 21-15, 21-17 in 40 minutes to extend his career record to 3-1.

On other courts, Danish Line Kjaersfeldt overcame P.C. Thulasi 21-16, 21-14 in 35 minutes in a women's singles match while South Korean fifth seeds Ko Sung Hyun and Kim Ha Na beat Tarun Kona and N. Sikki Reddy 21-15, 21-17 in 29 minutes in mixed doubles.

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Shyam Kumar bags gold in Thailand boxing tourney

NEW DELHI: Shyam Kumar was the only one to strike gold but India signed off a creditable second with three medals in the Thailand Invitation International boxing tournament in Pattaya.

Indian boxers fetched a gold and a couple of bronze medals in the tournament. Shyam defeated Surajit Thong Anand of Thailand 3:0 in the light flyweight (49kg) division to be the best Indian performer.

Rohit Tokas (60kg) and Manjit (69kg) settled for the bronze medals after losing in the semifinals. While, Rohit lost to Darkhan Zhumsakbayev of Kazakhstan 2:1, Manjit was beaten by local favourite Apichet Saensit 2:1.

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Srikanth advance to Singapore Open second round

SINGAPORE: Top Indian shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth, Parupalli Kashyap and HS Prannoy notched up victories to progress to the men's singles second round at the $300,000 Singapore Open Superseries on Wednesday.

A little later women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa also advanced to the second round, beating South Koreans Go Ah Ra and Yoo Hae Won 21-12, 21-16 in 33 minutes at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

World No. 17 Kashyap had an easy outing against South Korean Lee Hyun Il as he came out on top 21-11, 21-13 in 33 minutes to earn his second win over the World No. 26 in five meetings. The Indian will next take on another South Korean, fourth seed Son Wan Ho against whom Kashyap has never won in their previous two meetings.

Son earlier took care of Kashyap's compatriot R.M.V. Gurusaidutt 16-21, 21-12, 21-15 in an hour and three minutes.

On the other hand, Prannoy defeated Hong Kong's Wong Wing Ki Vincent 21-15, 21-17 in 40 minutes to extend his career record to 3-1. The youngster has a tough challenge ahead as he takes on Danish second seed Jan O Jorgensen next up.

However, the World No.14 can take heart from the fact that he has beaten the World No.2 Dane twice is as many meetings. O Jorgensen had defeated Prannoy's friend and compatriot B. Sai Praneeth 21-11, 21-18 in 31 minutes in the opener.

Later in the day, third seed Srikanth had to work hard to earn a three-game 51-minute win over Tien Minh Nguyen. The Guntur-born came out on top with a 21-18, 19-21, 21-14 win to take a 2-1 career advantage over the Vietnamese. World No.4 Srikanth will next take on Thailand's Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk against whom the Indian has a 2-1 record.

On other courts, Danish Line Kjaersfeldt overcame P.C. Thulasi 21-16, 21-14 in 35 minutes in a women's singles match while South Korean fifth seeds Ko Sung Hyun and Kim Ha Na beat Tarun Kona and N. Sikki Reddy 21-15, 21-17 in 29 minutes in mixed doubles first round.

In women's doubles, Thai pair of Jongkonphan Kittiharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai defeated Dhanya Nair and Mohita Sahdev 21-8, 21-8 while Indonesian combine Pia Zebadiah Bernadeth and Rizki Amelia Pradipta took care of Pradnya Gadre and Sikki 21-17, 21-13.

South Korean top seeds Lee Yong Dae and Yoo Yeon Seong ended India's challenge in the men's doubles event as they beat Pranaav Chopra and Akshay Dewalkar 23-21, 21-11.

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Guru, Praneeth, Tarun-Sikki reach Singapore Open main draw

SINGAPORE: Commonwealth Games bronze medallist RMV Gurusaidutt and young B Sai Praneeth advanced to the main draw of Singapore Open Super Series badminton tournament after notching up contrasting wins in the men's singles qualifiers on Tuesday.

Gurusaidutt outsmarted Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana 18-21, 21-18, 21-18 in the first round and then tamed Chinese Taipei's Tzu Wei Wang 21-9, 21-13 to make it to the main draw.

Praneeth, too, produced some scintillating performance in the qualifiers, edging out Denmark's Rasmus Fladberg 18-21, 21-18, 21-12 first and then disposed off Malaysia Zulfadli Zulkiffli after his rival retired midway at 11-6.

Kona Tarun and N Sikki Reddy, who won titles at Uganda and Romania last month, also made it to the main draw after twin victories in the qualifiers.

Tarun and Sikki defeated Singapore's Jian Liang Lee and Jia Ying Crystal Wong 21-11, 21-12 in the opening round and then beat Malaysian combo of Mohd Razif Abdul Latif and Sannatasah Saniru 21-11, 21-17 in the next round.

However, it was curtains for Ajay Jayaram, who had conjured up hopes of reaching the main draw after winning his opening round against Malaysia's Daren Liew 21-13, 14-21, 21-17. But the Bangalore shuttler lost to Simon Santoso of Indonesia 16-21, 18-21 in the second round to crash out of the tournament.

Meanwhile, World No. 4 Kidambi Srikanth, Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap and Indonesia Masters winner H S Prannoy will start their campaign tomorrow in the men's singles competition.

India ace Saina Nehwal has withdraw from the tournament in order to recharge her batteries for the upcoming events.

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Harika gives credit to Surya, Hari

PUNE: Instead of rushing back to India after losing the World Women's Chess Championship semifinals, D Harika has decided to enjoy the hosts' hospitality this time. The Indian grandmaster lost to eventual champion Mariya Muzhychuk of Ukraine in the semifinals at Sochi last week, and decided to stay back for six days and take her metal on the podium.

The 24-year-old suffered a heart-wrenching defeat after being on the verge of winning the penultimate game in the tiebreak against Mariya Muzhychuk. "It was quite painful," Harika told TOI on Monday.

Her voice suggested that she had come over the defeat though. Ditto with her status: "Happy times are back."

"I was the 12th seed and played strong players except in the quarters. So I'm happy with my effort. I have learnt from each knockout World Championships. Grandmasters Surya Shekhar Ganguly and P Harikrishna have helped me so much. They both were my pillars of strength," she said.

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This is golden phase of Indian badminton, says Pawar

NAGPUR: Spectacular results achieved by Indian shuttlers in last few months have really delighted yesteryear heroes and Uday Pawar is no exception.

The former Indian player termed the present phase as the best ever for Indian badminton and opined the better is yet to come.

The former Indian player said that Indian badminton is in its best phase at present and opined the better is yet to come.

"This is undoubtedly the golden phase of Indian badminton. It started with Saina Nehwal becoming world No. 1. It can only get better in the years to come. I am sure, the best of Indian badminton is just round the corner," said Pawar.

The Mumbai-based player-turned-coach was addressing the media after inaugurating the 11th SJAN Media Badminton tournament at the Subhedar Hall here on Monday.

The 56-year-old said that various factors played key role in Indian players achieving excellent results at the international level.

"I must say major credit goes to academies. We have some very good academies in India which are continuously producing quality players. Government has been supporting the game by providing lot of financial assistance. Players get lot of international exposure thanks to ministry of sports constant support. With good results, many sponsors have also come forward which is directly helping the players and game in general," said Pawar.

Pawar, former doubles partner of legendary Prakash Padukone, said that India producing a quality player after a gap of 10-20 years is now a thing of past. "We took almost two decades to produce a true champion in the form of Pullela Gopichand after Prakash Padukone. Thankfully, the situation is quite rosy now with several Indians doing well simultaneously at the international level. Better fitness level has contributed a lot to their success. Indian players always had the skill but lacked in fitness. With improved fitness, the results have now started coming in a big way," said Pawar, who runs a badminton academy at the Goregaon Sports Club in Mumbai.

The multiple former national champion admitted that India is now a force to reckon with in the world of badminton. "The success of Saina, Srikanth, Sindhu and Kashyap has made other Indian players fearless. They now have the self-belief to do well at every international tournament. This talented bunch is not afraid of any players be it the Chinese or the Indonesians. Self-confidence has increased and this will ensure even better results in future," said Pawar, whose son Anand has also represented India.

Pawar said the present boom must be capitalized by the Badminton Association of India by building up a strong infrastructure for the game. He praised Saina for enhancing the status of badminton by climbing atop the world ranking. "She is certainly at the peak of her career. She has become a serious threat to the top Chinese players. Her game has improved by few notches in the last one year or so. No doubt, she has worked hard, but coaches should also get the credit for her success. Be it her present coach Vimal Kumar or previous coach Gopichand. Both have shaped the career of Saina in a big way," said Pawar.

He said there is lot of talent in Nagpur and he is ready for any help to the budding shuttlers of the city.

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State champion boxer Rishu Mittal forced to work as maid

KAITHAL (Haryana): A state-level gold medallist boxer, Rishu Mittal, is being forced to work as a domestic help to continue her passion for the sport and to support her schooling.

The class X student toils hard to support herself and her brother.

Her coach Rajinder Singh said on Tuesday that Rishu is a promising talent, but needs support to flourish and prove her mettle on the big stage.

"The girl and her brother hail from a poor family. Rishu washes utensils, cleans the floor, cooks and does other jobs of a domestic help to raise some money," he told reporters.

In between, she struggles to take out time for her daily practice and attend the school as well.

He said that if Rishu gets some support from the government and from others she can have better diet and one day make the country proud like MC Mary Kom.

The coach said Rishu had won a gold medal in a state-level championship last year and also represented Haryana at the national championships in December last year.

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Indians off to a good start in Dubai Chess

DUBAI: Former world junior champion Abhijeet Gupta got off to a flying start, defeating Maria Gevoryan of Armenia in the first round of the Dubai International Open chess tournament on Tuesday.

Sahaj Grover, S Arun Prasad, S Kidambi and Murali Karthikeyan were the other Indian Grandmasters who did a similar act, but former Commonwealth Champion R R Laxman was surprisingly held to a draw by unheralded Mayed Alrashedi of UAE.

Playing white in the first round, Gupta, a winner here in 2011, played a fine positional game to beat Gevoryan, who proved no match to the wily Indian.

While Grover defeated compatriot Inacio Rodrigues, Arun Prasad accounted for Wang Shanshan of China, Kidambi outwitted Sri Lankan Vasanta Wettasinha and Karthikeyan had it easy against Elie Asmar of Libya.

The opening round had its share of upsets in the $50000 prize money tournament and stealing the limelight was local hopeful Saeed Ishaq, who crashed through the defences of higher ranked Grandmaster Eltaj Safarli of Azerbaijan.

Philippines' Jobannie Tabada was the other big gainer of the day, defeating Grandmaster Yuriy Kuzubov of Ukraine.

It turned out to be an easy outing for Gupta, who starts this year as the highest rated Indian and 12th seed overall in a strong line-up. Gevoryan went for the Queen's Gambit accepted as black and Gupta chose an early queen exchange variation favoured by former world champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia.

After the trade of Queens, Gevoryan found the going tough early on as she could not find the right placement for her pieces. As a result, Gupta won a rook for a Bishop and won in a mere 25 moves to start his campaign on a high.

The other higher ranked Indians also had a good day. GM norm holder Sagar Shah used his white pieces to perfection to outplay Alattar Ghayda of Jordan, while International Masters Sayanatan Das and K Rathanakaran scored wins over Akshay V Halagannavar and Ahmad Al Romaithi of UAE, respectively.

The tournament is a nine-round Swiss with 150 players in all. There are 39 Grandmasters and 22 International Masters in the fray, making it one of the strongest open of the continent. The winner's purse is $12000.

Important and Indian results round 1 (Indians unless stated): Abdulla Khayala (Aze) lost to David Howell (Eng); Vladimir Fedoseev (Rus) beat Fawzy Adham (Egy); Aniruddha Deshpande lost to Igor Kovalenko (Lat); Jobannie Tabada (Phi) beat Yuriy Kuzubov; Saeed Ishaq (Uae) beat Eltaj Safarli (Aze); Abhijeet Gupta beat Maria Gevorgyan (Arm); Sergey Volkov (Rus) beat LN Ram Aravind; Daniele Vocaturo (Ita) beat Amruta Mokal; Siva Mahadevan lost to Papp Gabor (Hun); Inacio Rodrigues lost to Sahaj Grover; S Arun Prasad beat Wang Shanshan (Chn); Elie Asmar (Lib) lost to Murali Karthikeyan; Sagar Shah beat Alattar Ghayda (Jor); Sayantan Das beat Akshay V Halagannavar; K Rathnakaran beat Ahmad Al Romaithi (Uae); Vasanta Wettasinha (Sri) lost to S Kidambi; Mayed Alrashedi (Uae) drew with R R Laxman; Eesha Karavade beat Alshaeby Razan (Jor); Nr Vignesh beat Ali Abdulaziz (Uae); Tamara Khateeb (Jor) lost to Nr Visakh; Abhishek Kelkar beat Raya Alnaimat (Jor); Aseel Odeh (Jor) lost to S Vijayalakshmi; Mehar Chinna Reddy beat Mohamed Marshool (Uae); Bashaer Khalil (Uae) lost to Rakesh Kulkarni; Ahmed Mohamed Qayed (Uae) lost to Sameer Kathmale; Harikrishnan Samyuktha beat Mridul Thaivalappil.

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Harika wins bronze in World Women's Chess Championship

SOCHI (Russia): Indian Grandmaster Dronavalli Harika won the bronze medal along with Swedish Grandmaster Pia Cramling by virtue of making it to the semifinals of World Women's chess championship.

Harika lost to the eventual winner Mariya Muzychuk of Ukraine in the semifinals.

Muzychuk bagged the title after defeating Russian Natalija Pogonina 2.5-1.5 in the four-game final. She had earlier defeated top seeded Indian Grandmaster Koneru Humpy in the quarters.

While both Humpy and Harika got excellent chances to beat Muzychuk, the Ukrainian prevailed over them, thanks to some steely nerves.

Against Humpy, she was looking at a hopelessly lost position in the deciding tiebreaker when the Indian played an inexplicable blunder and lost.

Harika lost to Muzychuk when she was not able to win a simple position with two extra pawns again in the tie-break games and then lost the return game without much ado. This was the second time in succession that Harika made it till the semifinals in the knockout championship.

While the last-four finish guarantees Harika a place in the Women's Grand-prix for the next World championship cycle, Humpy has already qualified to the Grand prix thanks to her high world ranking.

Muzychuk, who won the gold ahead of many fancied rivals, including Humpy, played out a marathon event lasting six mini-matches and spread over almost three weeks.

Pogonina, who had many ups and downs in the championship, finally ran out of steam in the final, losing the second game and drawing the remaining three to win the silver medal.

Winner Muzychuk won $60000, while Pogonina bagged $30000. Harika, who decided to stay back to receive her medal, got $20000.

"I started this tournament as 12th seed so, on paper, it's a nice result. At the same time definitely I am a bit disappointed that I couldn't win gold. But overall, I think it is fine. I played my best chess and gave my best in tough situations," Harika said.

Speaking about her blunder which has cost her a place in the final, Harika said, "I focussed more on not to make mistake in such conditions rather than the position, and I think this is the reason I blundered, it was painful but it's a learning experience.

"It takes a lot of effort to reach here," Harika said adding, "I think credit goes to the people around me: my family, my trainer since childhood N V S Raju, my friend and supporter Eesha (Karavade, an International Master), my sponsors Lakshya and Government of India that supported me under NSDF so I could take training."

Harika also said that GMs Surya Shekhar Ganguly and P Harikrishna were the two important pillars for her good showing here.

"I worked with Surya many times which changed my perspective towards chess and here, Harikrishna helped me all through the event which was of great benefit," she said.

Harika next plays in the World Women Team Chess Championship in China in less than two weeks where Humpy will also join the Indian team.

"We have got a good team and we are seeded around fifth out of 10 teams. It's a tough competition but we all are prepared to give our best," Harika said.

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